Thermo-optical properties of high-refractive-index plasma-deposited hydrogenated amorphous silicon-rich nitride films on glass

Optical and thermo-optical studies of hydrogenated amorphous silicon-rich nitride films were carried out. The films were produced by plasma-assisted chemical vapor deposition on glass. It is shown that the films deposited under appropriately selected processing conditions contain little nitrogen, as confirmed by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy therefore they are referred to as silicon-rich nitrides, a-SRN:H. Spectroscopic ellipsometry, reflectance, and transmittance spectroscopy were used to determine the optical indexes of the films and their thicknesses. It results from the ellipsometric measurements performed within a 190-1700nm spectral wavelength range that a-SRN:H films exhibit a high refractive index of about 3.7. It is also shown that post-deposition annealing up to 300 degrees C does not affect the optical parameters of the films. Additionally, they are transparent in the near-infrared region, which makes them a good candidate for applications in various optoelectronic systems. (C) 2020 Optical Society of America under the terms of the OSA Open Access Publishing Agreement